Listening News

Well... I've read the entire Harry Potter series, several books on the RUF reading list (www.ruf.org) and have returned to school in the meantime. But the big news in the last few months has been some great new music.

Bob Brozman's new album, Lumiere, features his construction of a full orchestra for this album... comprised entirely of himself. Yes, Brozman laid down multiple instrumental layers for each track on the album. The result? Amazing! The style is, first of all, eclectic (one might even say postmodern if you so wished); instruments from one culture are beautifully captured for the music of another culture. Sounds and styles from Hawaiian folk to Ska make an appearance on this album, which should be a delight to your ears!

In another delightful world music crossover, Italian Reggae producer Gaudi has taken old vocal tracks by dceased Suffi vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and mixed the vocals to Reggae beat. That's almost as delightfully odd as listening to Matisyahu, a hasidic reggae rapper. This album is full of beautiful melodies and vocals and are well worth the listen.

So this might be old news for lots of you out there (or you might roll your eyes at me) but I have enjoyed a great deal of the Broadway/West End musical world this summer. Particularly the London cast recording of Les Miserables (which is what I am reading at the moment). I find this album lovely - the musical has (understandably) cut a great deal of the story. The first act rushed through the first eight hundred pages of the novel. But the music, though slightly dated in places, has captured the feeling of Victor Hugo's masterpiece. I've also been listening to the Broadway cast recording of Spamalot. Yes, I love it. I cannot help it, but the outrageous humor and British droll is absolutely delightful. I cannot help but to sing along, "We're the knights of the round table, we dance whevever able, we do routines and chorus scenes, and don't forget the cable. We dine right here in Camalot, we eat ham and jam and spam alot." =)